Sanskrit
मय्येव मन आधत्स्व मयि बुद्धिं निवेशय । निवसिष्यसि मय्येव अत ऊर्ध्वं न संशयः ॥
mayy eva mana ādhatsva mayi buddhiṃ niveśaya nivasiṣyasi mayy eva ata ūrdhvaṃ na saṃśayaḥ
Translation
Place thy mind in me, into Me let thy Reason enter; then without doubt thou shalt abide in Me hereafter.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The most direct imperative in the chapter — a bare command with no qualification. Krishna states it plainly and then, rather than assuming it’s achievable, immediately builds in a fallback in verse 9. That pairing of “here is the instruction” followed at once by “and if you can’t” is the chapter’s most distinctive rhetorical move. The bare command, no qualification — and then, rather than assume it is achievable, Krishna immediately builds in a fallback at BG 12.9. “Here is the instruction” followed at once by “and if you can’t” is the chapter’s distinctive move, and the first rung of the figure’s ladder.
Study deeper
Word by word
- mayy eva mana ādhatsvaमय्य् एव मन आधत्स्व
- fix your mind on Me alone (mayi + eva + manaḥ + ādhatsva)
- mayi buddhiṃ niveśayaमयि बुद्धिं निवेशय
- place your intellect in Me (mayi + buddhim + niveśaya)
- nivasiṣyasi mayy evaनिवसिष्यसि मय्य् एव
- you will dwell in Me alone (nivasiṣyasi + mayi + eva)
- ata ūrdhvaṃ na saṃśayaḥअत ऊर्ध्वं न संशयः
- hereafter — of this there is no doubt (ataḥ + ūrdhvam + na + saṃśayaḥ)
Commentary
Site Commentary
This verse gives no qualification, no fallback, no acknowledgment that it might be hard — and the very next verse immediately supplies one anyway. Read together, the pair models something rare: stating a full, uncompromised ideal without flinching, and then, in the same breath, refusing to let anyone be shut out by it.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When you set yourself the full, uncompromised version of a goal, write down the fallback version in the same sitting, not later as a retreat — an ideal with no fallback gets abandoned entirely the first time it's missed.
Professional
- When you set a stretch goal for your team, name the acceptable fallback tier in the same announcement — stating both together keeps the stretch goal aspirational instead of demoralizing once it turns out to be hard.
Family & Social
- When you ask someone close to you for the ideal version of a behavior — full patience, daily contact — offer the acceptable fallback in that same conversation, so one missed instance doesn't read to them as total failure.
Ask yourself
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